Unite is to mount a legal challenge to British Airways’ decision to take away staff travel concessions from cabin crew who have taken strike action against the airline. Unite claim that this action infringes European human rights legislation.

The union will meet with BA for talks at ACAS next week. This follows the rejection of the airline’s latest offer by BA cabin crew.

Conversely, in a statement relating to the rejection, BA said: “We are encouraged by the result of this ballot which shows that 73 per cent of our cabin crew did not reject our offer. The result shows that Unite does not have a clear mandate and we would urge them to come back to the table to sign the agreement and end the dispute.”

In a more recent statement Unite joint general secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley said: “Unite remains determined to secure a settlement to this dispute acceptable to cabin crew. Until such an agreement is secured, we will continue to support our members financially and legally.”

The union says it is preparing to provide extra assistance to strikers who have suffered particular financial hardship.